


this charming man

by ruinemavie



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: (kind of), Alternate Universe - College/University, Ballet dancer Kurapika, Bless Leorio's heart for being his emotional support, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, Someone help Kurapika he's too stressed, Them being so cute together gives me seratonin, med student Leorio
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:53:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27317317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ruinemavie/pseuds/ruinemavie
Summary: "A couple of significant occurances that lead to two people who constantly fight to fall in love" or in simpler terms, "Kurapika is an overtired medical nightmare and Leorio has to take care of him."
Relationships: Kurapika/Leorio Paladiknight
Comments: 21
Kudos: 136





	this charming man

Leorio walks down his college’s campus terrain with a coffee in his hand and a briefcase in the other, containing his medical textbooks, pencils, half a bag of doritos and a stick of gum. His morning has been normal enough: wake up at eleven o'clock precisely (late enough that he feels well-rested but early enough that he doesn’t feel too lazy), jump into his blazer and grey slacks and then head his ass down to the on-campus coffee shop.

He takes a startled sip of the hot beverage that scalds his tongue when he hears a loud uproar coming from somewhere across the open football field. Lunch hours on campus are often pretty bustling, but Leorio isn’t used to such commotion at lunch time.

Squinting his eyes, he’s able to make out a large group of people crowding the park benches on the side of the field. Leorio picks up his step and approaches the small mob, admittedly intrigued in what’s going down.

Though he hadn’t noticed it before, there is a person standing atop the plastic picnic table, shouting something into a microphone. The person’s features are slightly obscured by Leorio’s farsightedness but Leorio ultimately comes to the conclusion that it is a male speaking, with his light blonde hair tied into a small bun at the nape of his neck.

The man is pretty short, Leorio remarks, and even the extra height of him on top of the table isn’t staggering. If he could push past a couple rows of people, Leorio thinks he could maybe look the man in the eyes, standing at around the same height.

His voice makes up for his short stature, though. It’s loud and commanding, but not shrill. The voice of a leader, no doubt. Squinting more, Leorio can see pamphlets being handed out.

One lands in his hand, given to him by a girl with curly black hair. He goes to thank her but she has already moved onto handing the flyers out to someone else. Leorio looks at the title of the pamphlet, boldly stating “Equality is a human right!” Leorio reddens slightly and looks up at the speaker who he now realizes is preaching LGTB rights.

_ Damn, he’s ballsy, _ Leorio thinks to himself before folding the pamphlet neatly and tucking it into his briefcase. It’s not that Leorio doesn't agree with what the speaker is saying, he does. In fact, the subject hits pretty close to home, if you know what he means.

The thing is, it’s.. nerve-wracking. Scary even. Leorio doesn't think he could go up in front of so many people and talk about such a controversial subject. Especially at college, when the whole social prospect is to conform or get ripped to shreds.

_ Good for him, though, _ Leorio thinks as he stalks away, admiration on his mind for the short blonde who is still enthusiastically- and a bit aggressively- relaying his speech to a visibly supportive crowd.




“Shit!” Leorio rubs his head as jolts up from his cramped bunk and promptly hits his head on the overhead shelf. Just like that, with a rude awakening, the merciful spell of a lazy Sunday is broken as his sad reality of Monday closes in on him.

A late Monday, that is. Leorio’s class starts at eight, and he knows this. Oh, does he know this. So why did he hit the snooze button so many times? Leorio continues his string of curses as he pulls on his suit, not bothering with the tie as his clock flashes a taunting 7:55.

No time for coffee this morning, he decides as he runs out of his dorm. He gets halfway down the campus field before he realizes he forgot his briefcase and textbooks in his dorm.

“ARGH!” he yells in anger, voice trailing behind him almost comically- though it’s NOT funny- as he sprints back to his room.

In the end, Leorio bursts into the lecture hall out of breath and a full ten minutes late. Everyone looks up at him from their spots in the elevated class seats, rows of eyes peering up at him with a mixture of annoyance and pity.

Leorio shakes his head in defeat, past the point of trying to sneak into the classroom undetected seeing as the teacher is now scrutinizing him as he makes the trudge of disgrace to his spot.

“Paladinight,” his teacher calls out in a falsely happy tone. Leorio stiffens, having just placed his briefcase down in his spot. His social studies teacher is not known for being lenient towards late students. Leorio lifts his head up slowly.

“Yes?” he calls down, wincing as his voice comes out as a bit of a whimper.

“Normally I would chew you out, but you came at the perfect time,” his teacher says coolly, displeasure clear in her tone as she taps her high heel on the raised stage at the bottom of the hall. Leorio audibly gulps and prepares for what is next to come.

“We were just about to do an impromptu debate and we needed one more person! So nice of you to volunteer.” she says, voice biting in a way that means there is no way Leorio can talk his way out of this.

Leorio’s heart stops for a minute before he forces it to continue. He is not big on public speaking.

“Wait a minute,” Leorio suddenly speaks up as his teacher’s eyebrows raise at the contradiction. “One more person? Who am I going up against?”

A blonde head of hair that he hadn’t noticed sitting there before stands up and Leorio realizes that he is totally, completely and utterly screwed. Every bone in Leorio’s body is screaming at him to get the hell out of the lecture hall but his sensible brain pushes him toward the stage.

Leorio is silent as he walks towards his death sentence. Debating against an activist has got to be the most uneven playing field he has ever been put on. Leorio feels totally out of place as he stands next to the shorter man in front of the whole class, who’s head only reaches his collarbone.

Today, the man’s hair is pulled into a small ponytail with golden blonde locks framing his face. Leorio is close enough that he can see a small trail of freckles dust the other’s nose and the prominence of his cheekbones, as well as a ruby red droplet earring hanging from one ear.

The man notices him scrutinizing his features and returns the favor, glaring icily over Leorio’s face before turning to their teacher. She pulls out a small jar and shakes it up before reaching her hand into it and pulling out a slip of paper.

“Today’s debate topic,” she starts, opening the piece of paper slowly, ““Should same-sex marriage be legalized?” You will have a minute to think of your answers.” The teacher looks them over quickly. “Kurapika, you will be  _ for _ the subject and Leorio, you will be  _ against _ it.”

Leorio barely has the time to acknowledge the other’s name- Kurapika, he rolls over in his mind- before fear and realization hits him like a stack of bricks.

He has to argument same-sex marriage. He has to protest against something he agrees with.  _ He is debating against an LGBT rights activist over same sex marriage. _

Leorio knows three things at that moment. One: He has never, in his life, received a glare as harsh as the one the blonde man is currently giving him. Two: His teacher must hate him with all her heart, and three: Leorio will be completely torn to shreds. Physically or mentally, Leorio isn’t sure. His opponent- Kurapika, he reminds himself- looks ready to do both.

Before Leorio’s even had enough time to process his current predicament, his teacher is shooing him towards the makeshift podiums in center stage.

Kurapika steps up onto the podium like he was born to stand behind it. Leorio feels sick to his stomach and averts his gaze to the rows of students. All of them are looking at him with sympathy, already knowing how things are going to go down.

The teacher signals for Kurapika to start off the debate. He takes a deep breath and nods, earring bouncing, before launching into his speech with the same voice he’d used the other day on the field.

“Wether of not we should legalize same-sex marriage shouldn’t even be a question. Anyone, with any type of relationship should be accepted and allowed the same love as a heterosexual couple. Who do you think you are, not permitting someone to love someone else?” Kurapika’s tone turns bitter quickly, as though he is directing his words towards someone other than Leorio.

Leorio realizes that he should interject quickly, if only to get a word or two in before Kurapika backs him into a corner. _ I agree with everything he’s saying, though _ , Leorio thinks glumly to himself.

“I interject,” Leorio pipes up quickly, ignoring the pointed stare he receives. God, Kurapika is terrifying in his own right.

“Um... same sex marriage shouldn’t be legalized because..” Leorio has to scramble for some half-assed statement quickly. “Because kids should have a mom and dad for a stable household. And not having both parents could affect the kid’s mental health badly, I guess.” Leorio trails off, wincing.

Kurapika grips the pedestal tightly, leaning forward.

“So you’re saying two moms can’t teach their kids as well as both a mom and a dad? Or two dads, for that matter?”

“..Yeah.” No, Leorio wants to interject.

“Bet you’d know all about a stable household,” Kurapika scoffs. “Pretentious little rich boy.”

“ _ What did you say _ ?” Leorio asks, whipping his head up to meet the other man’s gaze.

“I said what I said.” Making his point, Kurapika folds his arms over his chest.

“Don’t assume things about me,” Leorio hisses. Kurapika probably doesn’t know the landmine he’s struck with bringing up the “rich” comment. Leorio actually comes from a dirt poor family, having to struggle financially all throughout his childhood. Kurapika doesn’t know how many years Leorio will have to work to pay off his student debt.

“You probably assume lots of things about me too, I’ll bet,” Kurapika taunts. Leorio can feel his head clouding over with anger.

“Right now, all I’m assuming is that you're an easily offended, temperamental  _ child _ ,” Leorio spits, starting to get very annoyed with the blonde.

The students sitting in the rows are dead silent, watching the exchange with shared worry. Leorio can hear a low whistle or two.

Kurapika gasps angrily.

“How dare you!”

“You were ASKING for it! This is just a mock debate, I don’t actually mean what I say,” Leorio throws his hands up in the air, exasperated.

Kurapika quiets at this and twin spots of red appear on his cheeks. He opens his mouth to say something, then decides against it and hangs his head.

His teacher rushes to interject at that moment, glaring at the both of them.

“That’s quite enough, both of you. Sit down.” her voice is firm and Leorio doesn’t need to be asked twice, sprinting back to his seat. Kurapika trudges back to his own seat and ignores the stares of their classmates.

Leorio sits in silence for the rest of the class, embarrassment burning his chest. He doesn’t hear a peep from Kurapika for the remaining duration of the class, either.




After class is done, Leorio finds Kurapika sitting against the building's wall with his knees pulled up to his chest. Upon further inspection, Leorio can see the telltale wisp of smoke curling up through the air above the blonde’s head.

He’d spent the majority of class wondering if he should chase after Kurapika once class let out or if he should just leave him alone. Sadly, Leorio has a guilty conscience and feels partly responsible for making Kurapika freak out in front of the class.  _ Besides, I did call him a temperamental child in front of the whole class, _ Leorio’s mind quips.

He kinda deserved it, though.

Leorio shoves a hand into his pocket and holds his briefcase flung over his shoulder as he walks towards Kurapika, who still hasn’t looked up from his seated position.

“Cigarettes are horrible for your health, y’know,” Leorio says, standing over the blonde.

His voice elicits a reaction from Kurapika, at least. He finally lifts his head enough to look Leorio angrily in the eyes.

“No shit, sherlock. What do you want?”

_ Ouch _ , Leorio thinks bitterly.

“Just wanted to say I’m sorry about the debate, alright? I didn’t mean to make you mad.” Leorio adverts his gaze, suddenly feeling abashed.

Kurapika lets out a long sigh before tapping his cigarette out and putting it in the ashtray.

“Look, I’m sorry too. I took things too far.” Kurapika scrubs a hand over his face, looking burnt out, all of his previous anger stamped out of him like a dying flame.

“The subject was just…a bit of a touchy subject for me.”

“Yeah, I saw your rally yesterday,” Leorio admits. “I thought you looked pretty cool, to be honest. The way you can speak so passionately and not care about what people think.”

Kurapika’s eyes widen the fraction of an inch before he too looks away.

“Thanks,” he mutters, rubbing the back of his neck. His phone buzzes in his pocket and he pulls it out, frowning.

“I gotta go now, um.” Kurapika looks up at him, brows furrowing. “Mr. Paladinight?”

Leorio sputters indignantly and shakes his head.

“Call me Leorio, please.”

The corners of Kurapika’s mouth seem to twitch upwards quickly as he tries out the taller man’s name.

“Leorio,” he says, tongue catching on the r and rolling it.

Leorio feels a flush creeping up his neck and nods his head quick.

“Yep, that’s me. I’ll see you ‘round, Kurapika.”

Kurapika scrunches up his nose and gives him a quick wave before hitching his satchel further up the crook of his arm. Leorio watches the man walk away quickly before shaking his head and going back to his dorm to crash.




“Kurapika Kurta? Yeah, I know him. Why’d you ask?” Pietro asks Leorio over the rim of his coffee mug. Leorio sighs and rests his head in his palms, leaning forward on the table.

“Um... no reason,” Leorio avoids telling Pietro about the other day’s debate incident. “I’ve just never seen him around here before.”

Well, it wasn’t a complete lie. Leorio truly had never seen the man on campus before and (though he isn't willing to admit it) is starting to get more and more interested in Kurapika the more he sees him.

“It makes sense.” Pietro stirs his coffee with a small stir stick and brings it to his lips, words slightly muffled. “He just transferred to our school two weeks ago, on a scholarship. ‘Parently they moved him up a year, he was so capable.”

Leorio whistles.

“Scholarship for what?” he asks.

“Dancing or something, I don't know.” Pietro narrows his eyes in suspicion at Leorio. “If you’re so interested, why don’tcha ask him yourself?”

“He’s kinda hard to approach, man.” Leorio sighs and shrugs.

“Pussy,” Pietro coughs into his coffee, earning a kick to the shin.

“Fuck you, man,” Leorio says but there isn’t any real anger behind his voice.  _ That’s because Pietro is right, _ he thinks to himself.

“Well, I hope you figure shit out.” Pietro goes to stand up. Leorio picks up his briefcase and pushes his round glasses further up his nose with a grin.

“Will do,” Leorio says with a small nod. “Thanks for talking, Pietro.”

Pietro waves his hand dismissively. “Yeah, yeah. If you're really thankful you’ll buy me coffee the next time,” he says as he walks away.

Leorio shakes his head with a chuckle before walking the opposite way. An idea flashes through his mind briefly and before he can think too much about it, his feet start to lead him towards the on-campus dance studios.

_ For no particular reason, _ he reasons with himself.  _ Just curiosity. _ It isn’t too long of a commute, maybe five minutes or so from his dorm. He makes a mental note of that.

He finally stops in front of the swinging glass doors that read “Dance Studio” so he figures he’s in the right place. Two lithe girls in leggings and headbands push past him in the other direction and Leorio suddenly feels self conscious about the whole thing.

Swallowing his pride (and having Pietro call him a pussy floating in his mind) Leorio pushes the glass doors open and is met with a receptionist’s pointed gaze. She asks him if he’s a visitor and he nods once. She points him down a corridor to the right and Leorio follows her directions, thankful for the guidance.

As soon as he steps foot in the corridor he can hear the muted bass of a song being played, sound floating through the walls. The corridor is lined with glass that gives a view into the studio and Leorio internally freaks for a moment before realizing that the glass is one-sided.

It doesn’t take too long for him to spot a familiar head of flaxen blonde hair and Leorio smiles softly. Kurapika looks completely at home, standing at the barre and nodding occasionally while his instructor speaks with him, hands moving rapidly, presumably sharing advice through a sharp, dance-worn tongue.

With a final nod, Kurapika moves to the center of the studio floor and takes a deep breath before looking sideways at his teacher, head craning down to take his position. The teacher walks over to the studio speaker and flips the switch on as a different song fills the enclosed room.

This new song brings a completely different mood and Leorio feels entranced as he watches Kurapika move slowly. His hair is half tied up, not quite long enough for a braid. Leorio catches glimpses of a small yet toned waist as Kurapika’s flowy shirt lifts when he extends his arms.

Leorio can feel the heat climbing up his face but can’t seem to look away. Kurapika doesn’t even open his eyes the entirety of the dance, completely serene and in the moment.

The lights of the studio hit Kurapika’s face just right, casting shadows and catching the light of sparkles under his eyes. The dancer is only wearing a tank top and shorts but they fit him perfectly, as though he was made to wear such feminine clothing.

Watching Kurapika dance, time seems to stop. Once again, just like at the protest, everyone revolves around Kurapika. The spotlight was made for him. He was born to have everyone’s eyes on him.

Leorio is in awe of this small, feisty blonde and briefly wonders how he can possibly get closer to Kurapika. While mulling this over, the music seems to die down and Leorio realizes that the routine is coming to an end.

People start to pack up their bags and such as Kurapika strikes a final pose, panting a little before standing at his full height and finally cracking his eyes open.

Leorio feels a brief strike of panic and realizes that he should motor out of there before Kurapika sees him watching like a creep. Which he isn’t, being creepy that is.

Is he?  _ No, this is perfectly normal _ , Leorio thinks.

_ You're delusional, _ the other side of his brain laughs at him. Leorio shushes it and quickly walks back down the corridor with his hands in his pockets, various poses of Kurapika flashing through his mind.

He bids the receptionist farewell and goes to push open the front door of the studio before an intrusive and disturbing thought crashes through his mind.

“Hey, miss?” he starts, slowly, “The glass in the studio is one sided, right?”




Whenever Leorio has time off of school, he goes to the campus’ doctor wing to work as an assistant. Seeing as he’s aspiring to be a successful doctor, he pushes himself to work there as much as possible to gain experience in the field.

_ The office is pretty quiet today, _ he thinks to himself as he flips through a magazine, feet up on the desk. The only noise in the room is the constant ticking from the overhead clock and the occasional crinkling of paper as he flips the pages absentmindedly.

Spoken- or thought- a second too soon, the door to the office swings open with the force of an insanely strong gust of wind. Leorio almost falls off of his spinning chair before hopping to his feet to see what the commotion is about.

A very short woman, standing at no taller than five feet is standing before Leorio, twiddling her thumbs anxiously.

“I really need some help!” She squeaks out, her voice clearly not used to distress.

“Woah, miss, is everything alright?” Leorio receives a rapid shake of the head as she looks around the office in a small panic.

“I’m the only one in office today,” Leorio tells her nervously. She looks him over quickly and seems to give him her approval.

“You’ll do swell. My friend collapsed during practice and refused to let us get him any help. I snuck away because I can tell he’s just putting up a front. Please help me bring him here,” she pleads with Leorio.

“Of course, miss.” Leorio grabs his assistant ID lanyard before following the woman out of the office at a brisk pace.

“What practice is your friend in?” he asks her during their commute to the building.

“Dance,” she replies evenly, eyebrows furrowing in worry. “He’s constantly bringing all of this pressure on top of himself, it’s no wonder he collapsed under it.”

_ Dance? _ Leorio thinks briefly.  _ Couldn’t be… _

He pushes the now familiar glass door open for the woman once they reach the building and she mutters her thanks quietly before rushing in, leading him down the same corridor he’d gone down the other day.

He follows her, an ever-present sense of dread starting to coil in his stomach. The feeling only heightens as he sees a large group of dancers crowding around a figure slouched against the studio wall.

The woman pushes her way through, along with Leorio who sticks out like a sore thumb amongst the short dancers. “Kurapika!” she calls out to him.

_ Oh fuck _ , Leorio thinks. The matted blonde head of hair sticking to the person’s forehead with a mixture of what would appear to be water and sweat is most definitely his classmate.

“Melody,” he croaks out before raising his head to see Leorio in front of him as well.

“What are- why’s he here?” Kurapika demands, glaring at Melody accusingly.

She shifts guiltily in her place, hands clasped tightly in front of her. “You need help, so I got someone. We’re bringing you to the office, alright?”

Kurapika puts down his half empty plastic water bottle, all the while ignoring Leorio’s face entirely. “I’m fine,” he chuckles halfheartedly, crumpling forward when his laugh turns into an empty cough.

“You’re not! Come with us,” Melody pleads, looking around and feeling helpless. Kurapika says nothing and brings his head to his knees in that same fetal position Leorio had seen him in the other day.

Leorio realizes that Kurapika won’t budge on the matter as long as Melody is trying to sway him. Taking a deep breath, Leorio lowers himself to Kurapika’s level and holds him by his shoulders.

“Kurapika, look at me. You’re not in the condition to keep practicing, and I think it would be best for you to come for a brief checkup at the office just to make sure everything’s fine. Ok?” he asks in the best caring doctor voice he can muster.

Kurapika finally looks him in the eyes and has the absolute nerve to glare bitingly at Leorio. “I said I’m fine. Leave me alone, please.” Leorio has to take an even deeper breath and counts to five before taking his hands off Kurapika’s shoulders.

“Alright. Alright, I’ll stop asking.” Kurapika looks a little surprised at how easy it was to get Leorio off his back before the assistant doctor places one arm between the crook in Kurapika’s knees and another reassuring hand on the small curve of the man’s back.

Kurapika stiffens in shock as Leorio stands at his full height and lifts the blonde up in his strong arms.

"I’m done asking, you’re coming with me. The hard way, you little brat,” Leorio scoffs.  _ See, I’m not a total pushover. _

“Put me DOWN, Leorio!  _ Right now _ ,” Kurapika hisses and squirms around in the bigger man’s hold.

“Not unless you come to the clinic with me,” Leorio says firmly.

Kurapika looks up at Leorio with as much disdain as he can muster in his discomfort and Leorio feels a brief flash of guilt pierce his heart.  _ I’m doing the right thing, though! _

“...fine,” Kurapika eventually pushes through clenched teeth, fists curling in his shirt. “Fine, I’ll go.”

Leorio beams and sets him down gently. “That’s all you had to say, sunshine.”

Kurapika turns away from him and grabs his bag, letting his bangs cover his face. “Don’t call me that,” he warns.

“It suits you though,” Leorio protests. Kurapika scoffs. “It absolutely does not,” he remarks before swaying a bit on his feet.

Leorio rushes forward but Kurapika waves him back. “Can you walk?” Leorio asks worriedly.

“Jesus, I’m not crippled,’ Kurapika grumbles. Melody goes to follow them out of the studio but Kurapika turns to face her and shakes his head.

“Melody, I’ll be fine on my own. Just stay back,” he says, and then adds a muttered “Thanks, by the way,” before ducking his head and rushing out the door.

Leorio winks at Melody. “He means well,” he reassures to the softly smiling woman.

“I know,” she nods her head once and then walks back to the others as they resume their practice.

Leorio scrambles to catch up with Kurapika who’s already made his way out of the studio’s front door. “C’mon, take it easy,” Leorio chastises him.

Kurapika just folds his arms around himself as he represses shivers. His short sleeved shirt is ideal for the sweaty environment of the dance studio but not so much built for the crisp autumn air.

Leorio pulls on the collar of his varsity hoodie and pulls it over his head. He folds it over once and offers the bundle to Kurapika who reads the lettering on the sweater front.

‘You did rugby?” Kurapika asks with slight intrigue.

“Uh… yeah, first year of college,” Leorio responds distractedly. “C’mon, Kurapika, put on the sweater. You’ll get a cold.”

Kurapika looks up the expanse of path that they have yet to cover on their way to the doctor’s office and sighs in agreeance before taking the sweater from Leorio.

“We won’t talk about any of this,  _ ever _ , got it?” Kurapika asks Leorio with narrowed eyes. Leorio grunts a confirmation and Kurapika pulls the hoodie over his head, satisfied with the answer.

Golden strands of hair fall into his eyes as he smooths his bangs down from the motion of pulling on the sweater. It’s too big for him, clearly. Kurapika is wearing a pair of dancer shorts that are  _ higher than mid-thigh _ and are barely able to be seen under the hem of the sweater.

Leorio has the sudden urge to cover Kurapika’s exposed legs protectively, but from the weather or from other people, Leorio isn’t too sure. Kurapika catches his wandering eyes and looks up at him skeptically.

“I hope you're not planning on giving me your pants too,” Kurapika notes dryly. Leorio’s mind blanks and he just gapes at Kurapika, embarrassed. He rubs his neck and looks away.

“Of course not. You and your accusations, sheesh,” Leorio grumbles. Kurapika smirks a little and looks away.

They continue down the path in silence, unasked questions hovering in the air until Leorio can't take it any longer. “So…” he starts, “Mind telling me why you passed out in the middle of your dance practice?”

Kurapika pinches the bridge of his nose and kicks a rock down the path with his teal sneaker. “It doesn’t matter,” he replies dully.

“It does matter,” Leorio contradicts.

“Whatever,” Kurapika rolls his eyes. “I was just tired.”

Leorio narrows his eyes, regarding Kurapika with annoyance. “How many hours of sleep do you get per night?” he asks him with suspicion.

Kurapika reflects on Leorio’s question as they approach the clinic at last. “Probably around three hours,” he admits.

Leorio grimaces, now noticing the dark smudges under the blonde’s eyes. Acute case of college student insomnia.

“I normally finish dancing around ten, eat something quick at eleven and then study until about two in the morning. Then I have to wake up at five for early morning dance practice, which normally shaves off those extra three hours of sleep before class,” Kurapika tells him, counting the hours off his fingers.

_ Jesus christ, _ Leorio remarks, _ he doesn’t have insomnia, he’s overworked as hell. _

“It’s a lot, I know,” Kurapika smiles half assedly, looking more in pain than happy.

“Yeah, too much,” Leorio agrees and holds open the clinic door for him. “How many hours do you dance per week?” he asks, scared of the answer he’ll receive.

“Probably around sixty-five hours. I’m only here at this school on a scholarship, so I figure I better make sure I’m able to keep it.”

“Sixty-five?” Leorio yelps in indignance. “That’s not healthy,” he protests.

“Not much I can do about it,” Kurapika grumbles.

Leorio decides to drop the subject for now, though he has the feeling he won’t let it rest for good. He is decidedly worried about the amount of dancing Kurapika has to keep up with.

“Alright,” Leorio leads Kurapika through the clinic waiting room and into a small office. He gestures for Kurapika to take a seat on the cot and Kurapika plops down, crossing his dangling legs. “Now that I know how bad your sleep schedule is, dare I ask you what your meal plan consists of?” Leorio looks over the tops of his glasses at Kurapika, who shifts antsily in his seat.

“I normally skip breakfast because I’m up so early,” Kurapika admits. “I’ll swing by the cafeteria at lunch time and fill up then, and then have a light supper at the end of the day.”

Leorio taps his pen against his thigh. “Do you drink coffee? If so, how many cups per day?”

Kurapika nods and ducks his head, letting messy strands obscure his face from Leorio’s view. “It’s normally a rotation of coffee and energy drinks, so maybe… five a day?”

Leorio looks up rapidly from his clipboard that he was taking notes on. “Five cups of coffee a day? Wait, no, no…” Kurapika nods in embarrassment.

“And just as many energy drinks.” At least Leorio can tell that Kurapika has a bit of shame in this judging by the way that he avoids looking Leorio in the eye.

Leorio leans back in his chair and tips his head back. “Let me get this straight: Five cups or so of coffee, five energy drinks, and…” Leorio looks up at Kurapika again. “You smoke too, don’t you? I saw you outside that day after the debate.”

Kurapika nods once. “I don’t smoke a ton, though. Only when I’m really stressed.”

Leorio lets out a huge sigh. “My god, you're a doctor’s nightmare, sweetheart. How are you not dead yet?”

Kurapika leans back against the wall and closes his eyes. “I ask myself that every single day.”

“You know what, there's no point in me chewing you out,” Leorio says as he goes to stand up. “It’s obvious you know that what you're doing isn’t good. I’d just like to check in on your eating and sleep habits every now and then. I’m not forcing you, but don’t you think it could help if you could talk to someone about your problems?”

Kurapika narrows his eyes. “Like a therapist? Hate to break it to you, but-”

“No, not a therapist,” Leorio interrupts, “A friend. Someone to talk to. I’m practically the same age as you so I’d understand. That fine with you?”

Kurapika hesitates but then nods with a grimace.

“Great,” Leorio deadpans at Kurapika’s obvious displeasure at his offer. “Can I have your phone for a sec?”

Kurapika eyes him in disdain and clutches his phone protectively to his chest. “What do you want my phone for? Don’t tell me you’re gonna check my screen time too…”

Leorio rolls his eyes. “I’m just gonna give you my number, relax. That way you can call me at any time.”

Kurapika sighs for the umpteenth time and then hands Leorio his unlocked phone. Leorio types in his number under the contact “Leorio”.

“I hope you didn’t put something dumb for your contact name,” Kurapika frowns at Leorio as he snatches his phone back.

“You have absolutely zero faith in me,” Leorio whines. “I’m professional when I want to be.”

Kurapika just cracks a small grin and shrugs, tucking his phone back into his pocket. “Is that all you need me for?” he asks.

Leorio steps up to meet Kurapika at the door. “Yup,” he says and stands outside as Kurapika starts to make his way back down the path.

“I’ll see you around then, Leorio.”

“Don’t forget to call!”

Kurapika raises up a hand dismissively and Leorio watches his receding back get smaller until he turns back into the clinic with a chuckle.

It doesn’t occur to Leorio until later that night that Kurapika still has his varsity sweater.




After about a week of Leorio worrying about Kurapika as though it’s his new hobby, his worries finally bear fruit. Right when he’d been about to hop into bed and stay there for as long as possible, his phone had gone off with a soft hum on the counter of his small, empty kitchen.

Since Leorio doesn’t normally get a ton of calls, his phone going off at an ungodly two am is certainly an unwarranted- and  _ unwanted _ \- occurrence. Nevertheless, Leorio nearly trips over his long legs as he sprints back to the kitchen without a shirt on.

He fumbles the passcode but eventually gets it, accepting the call. Conflicting emotions of worry and excitement make his nerves stand on end as he sees the contact name flashing on his bright screen.

“Kurapika?” Leorio calls out softly, tentatively. Seeing as the blonde went to bed at this time on a regular basis, Leorio figures it’d be best not to shout as loud as he’d like. Besides, his neighbors in the apartment would give him death glares in the morning if he made too much ruckus, he’d learnt from experience.

He’s met with a crackly break of white noise and silence before-

“Hiiiiii,” Kurapika trills, giggling.

“Wha- Kurapika? Is that you?” Leorio gapes at his phone, flabbergasted. He had never heard Kurapika  _ giggle _ and certainly didn’t think the man was one to answer the phone all smiles at two in the morning.

Unless…

Leorio groans and brings his fingers to pinch the bridge of his nose. Kurapika would be the end of him. “Are you drunk?” he asks.

He can hear Kurapika click his tongue and huff as though he’s walking briskly somewhere. “Pro’lly, I wennout with frens,” he slurs and half suppresses a yawn.

“Is something wrong? Why’d you call?” Leorio asks worriedly. “Do you need me to come pick you up or somethin’?”

“Needa place’ta crash,” Kurapika mutters and bites out a bitter “Roomates’r fuckin’ again.”

Leorio shoves a hand over his mouth to muffle his surprised squawk of laughter. Drunk Kurapika was hilarious in his blunt honesty. “Right, do you need me to give you a lift then? My place isn’t too far, it’s right on campus.”

Silence again, and then his phone’s screen goes black. Kurapika's hung up on him. Leorio stares at it for a second, puzzled, before he hears a rapid knocking at his second floor apartment door.

“What the fuck…?” Leorio trails off before hopping up to answer the door. Whoever it is-and at this point, Leorio has a pretty good idea of  _ who _ -is trying to single handedly take down his front door with increasingly loud knocks.

“I’m  _ coming _ ,” He grumbles before unlocking the door and whipping it open to stop the clanging.

Right on the money, Kurapika is standing in front of him, hair sticking up and nose red from the cold with his phone crammed hastily into his jean pocket. Before Leorio can even get a word out, he lets out an unexpecting “oof” as Kurapika tackles him in a hug, knocking Leorio back a few steps.

Leorio’s arms raise as a knee-jerk reaction at Kurapika’s sudden display of affection and he can make out a muffled “Hullllooo” spoken into his stomach. At this moment Leorio is painfully aware that he is not wearing a shirt and suddenly feels a bit too hot.

“Uh…” Leorio trails off, wrapping his arms around Kurapika with uncertainty. “Nice to see you? Also, how’d you know where I live?” Kurapika looks up at him, still wrapped around Leorio’s midsection and shakes his head.

“Melody knows everything about everyone. Don’t get caught up in the details,” Kurapika says cryptically with a hooded smirk and raises his ring finger to Leorio’s lips. Leorio gulps and goes to gently remove Kurapika’s arms from his torso (though he will admit, the contact isn’t entirely unpleasant).

“Ok then,” Leorio lets the subject drop and goes to lead Kurapika inside. “C’mon in, I guess. I didn’t have any time to set up a mattress or anything for you to sleep on, so would you mind sleeping on the couch?”

Kurapika shakes his head and looks around his apartment, trailing his fingers over the backboard of the couch. Leorio’s able to take a better look at Kurapika and in the dimly lit living space he can see that Kurapika’s wearing his hoodie again.

“You can keep it, if you want,” Leorio blurts out suddenly. “The sweater, I mean.” He can feel himself sweating at the sudden spur-of-the-moment comment. Kurapika looks at him suddenly, a pleased smile lighting up his face.

“For real?” He seems so genuinely delighted at the prospect of Leorio letting him keep it, how could Leorio say no? “Yeah,” Leorio nods, “It looks good on you.” Both him and Kurapika stiffen at the statement, Kurapika in surprise and Leorio in shock that he said that out loud.

The worst part is, Kurapika  _ does _ look good in Leorio’s oversized sweater. He looks warm, comfortable, relaxed… everything he should be.  _ Not to mention fucking adorable, _ his annoying brain pesters him. He wishes he could turn the voice in his head off.

“It does?” Kurapika finally looks abashed, turning his head to the side, as though tackling Leorio with a totally out-of-character bear hug was less embarrassing than Leorio giving him a compliment. “It has your name on it though. You don’t mind?”

It hadn’t even occurred to Leorio that his name was, in fact, printed on the right sleeve of the sweatshirt. This fact makes him blush even harder and he thanks the gods for his apartment’s crappy lighting. “I don’t mind, do you?” At this point, Leorio is going to see things through to the end, even if a more sensible and more awake Leorio would beat himself over it the next morning.

Kurapika hides his face in his hands and mutters a soft “...I don’t,” into the cotton. A minute of comfortable silence breaks out between them, the only loud noises coming from noisy students returning to their dorms after a long night out.

Leorio claps his hands once to shake off the awkwardness (it doesn’t help a ton) and goes to retrieve blankets from his closet.

Leorio can hear the soft padding of feet follow him to his room and turns to see Kurapika now silently standing in the doorway, backlit from the glow of the living room lamp. He can also hear sudden sniffling and squints his eyes closer to see Kurapika’s eyes glistening with a tearful sheen.

Wha.. is Kurapika crying?

“Woah, Kurapika are you okay?” he rushes towards the other man, blanket strewn hurriedly on the bed.

Leorio assumes this is an insanely rare occurrence, to see the solitary and guarded Kurapika break into tears within the vicinity of another human being. Although Kurapika is decidedly inebriated, Leorio wonders briefly if something else is wrong, something deeper.

Kurapika takes a small breath before scrunching his face up to try to stop the flow of tears. It doesn’t work and only makes the stream fall off his face in small droplets. However, Kurapika remains silent.

“Hey, hey..” Leorio pats Kurapika on the back on the back soothingly and through his silent little gasps and closed eyes, Kurapika leans into the heat of Leorio’s touch. Leorio leads him to the edge of his bed and they sit down heavily, with Leorio’s arm around Kurapika’s shoulder and Kurapika smushing his face into the crook of Leorio’s neck.

It takes a little while in this position for Kurapika to start taking shuddering breaths before being able to string a sentence together. “I’m so fucking tired,” he whispers into Leorio’s shoulder. Leorio can feel fresh tears trailing down his arm, so he cards his hand through Kurapika’s hair, turning to face him. “I know,” Leorio whispers back to him. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

They stay like this until Kurapika’s posture relaxes and his breathing returns to normal. He hiccups once and goes to swipe at his eyes quickly, finally leaning off of Leorio. Feeling privileged to have been trusted with calming Kurapika down, Leorio doesn’t talk until the dancer is ready to.

The explanation doesn’t come; Leorio can’t be disappointed over something he didn’t expect to happen. Instead, Kurapika just gets up slowly, bows his head down to Leorio and mumbles a thank you.

“No problem,” Leorio goes to stand up as well and brings the blanket with him to the living room. He pats Kurapika once on the back with utmost care and Kurapika stays silent, retreating onto the couch. “Gets some sleep, now.” He doesn’t know what else to say.

Kurapika nods once and that’s that, pulling the blanket over his shoulders and turning away from Leorio. The med student sighs heavily, watching the blonde’s body rise and fall in deep breaths before he retreats into his room.

When he wakes up in the morning, feeling grouchy and overtired, Kurapika is nowhere to be seen.




Kurapika’s able to avoid Leorio for about three successful days. Leorio knows this because every time he tries to meet his eye in the lecture hall, an already staring Kurapika looks away from him quickly. Eventually Leorio sighs and turns his attention back to their teacher, knowing that Kurapika’s eyes snap back to linger over his face as soon as he isn't looking.

It’s like a cat and mouse game but neither of them have any reason to play. Leorio figures he might as well just let Kurapika come to him when he’s ready to talk, but he isn’t sure if that time will ever come. Besides, Kurapika is busy enough already and probably doesn’t want to discuss the type of relationship that exists between the two of them.

But by _ god _ Leorio’s nerves are wearing thin. His brain currently only revolves around Kurapika and he is constantly distracted, even on shift. He doesn’t entirely know if it’s just doctorly concern or if the feeling is something more, a stronger emotion.  _ A crush _ , he grumbles in thought.  _ Just like being back in highschool. _

At least his "crush" is more refined than the fake ones he used to have in high school, liking someone only because of their looks. Though Kurapika’s features are admittedly very attractive-and  _ such _ a distraction, especially when Kurapika passes him by in the hall and he gets a quick view of the dancer before he disappears from sight-Leorio knows that what he feels towards Kurapika isn’t superficial.

If anything, Leorio was doomed to fall for Kurapika from the start. The world is cruel like that sometimes. They started off rough, sure, but look where they are now? _ Avoiding each other like little kids _ , Leorio’s annoying conscious supplies and brings Leorio’s mood crashing down again.

He decides to (try) to get Kurapika off his mind and heads down to the college library. There’s only one, right in the center of the campus and it’s a pretty spacious place. All of the tables are pushed together in the middle and the bookshelves line the walls, some reaching heights that require those cool sliding ladders that Leorio once fell off of.

Leorio slinks into the library as quietly as he can, scanning the tables for a spot to sit. His heart nearly jumps to his throat when he sees a slumped blonde figure passed out over a large pile of books.

Leorio can’t decide whether to walk out of there or to go up to Kurapika. Leorio can practically hear Pietro’s jeering at him for being such a fucking  _ wimp _ all the time and Leorio decides to go for it, approaching Kurapika slowly like one would approach a carnivorous beast.

_ Ah shit, he’s cute _ , Leorio fawns over his sleeping classmate. Kurapika’s eyebrows are slightly furrowed as though he is stressing over something even in his sleep and one of his hands is still caught in between a book, appearing to have fallen asleep while flipping a page.

Today, Kurapika’s wearing a high necked tank top with the fabric in the back missing and Leorio can see the expanse of Kurapika’s small back in his slouched position.  _ That’s enough of that, _ Leorio thinks to himself while blushing and loosening his tie that suddenly feels too constricting.

He looks around briefly but everyone in the library seems to be poring over their books or focused on their phones, no in-betweens. Leorio slips into the chair across from Kurapika and puts his coat on the back of the seat, taking the next moment to think of what exactly his next move is.

Leorio knows he’s treading on thin ice and he can’t tell if he should wake Kurapika or not. It’s clear that Kurapika didn’t intend to fall asleep in the middle of studying, and though Leorio is happy that he’s getting some sleep he knows that Kurapika won’t be happy when he wakes up.

_ I guess I don’t really have that much of a choice _ , Leorio decides while reaching forward to jostle Kurapika’s clothed arm gently.  _ I’d like purple flowers at my funeral, please. _

Kurapika makes a small groaning noise and blinks drowsily, putting a hand in front of his eyes to adjust to the harsh lighting in the library before focusing on Leorio in front of him. Kurapika startles and pushes backwards quickly, seeming to have recovered from his groggy state and looks at Leorio who faces him with wide eyes.

“Leorio!” he exclaims, surprised, before taking in the scene around him. His expression turns angry as he realises that he fell asleep while reading. “Hi,” Kurapika says halfheartedly, eyes shifting around the room to avoid Leorio’s. Or maybe to find the nearest exit and make a break for it, Leorio can’t really tell from the flighty aura Kurapika’s exuding.

“Hi,” Leorio says, like an awkward agreement. Pleasantries don’t seem appropriate at the moment and Leorio’s at a loss for words on what to say next.

Thankfully Kurapika saves him the trouble. “I think we need to talk,” he says cautiously, as though unsure with himself.

Leorio laughs, quickly, with mirth and not amusement. “Yeah, I think so too.”

Kurapika looks down at his hands in unease and bites his lip.

“I’m sorry about the other day. Um. Coming to your apartment like that, I was completely drunk and wasn’t thinking…” he trails off, no longer sure what to say.

“Kurapika, don’t be sorry about that,” Leorio frowns at Kurapika, confused. “You can crash at my place any time, it’s really no problem.” They both gloss over the insinuation the sentence presents. “I’m more frustrated by you avoiding me afterwards,” Leorio continues.

“I was embarrassed. I promise I don’t normally do that,” Kurapika brings his head to his arms and slouches forwards on the table. “I’m sorry for being so touchy-feely, too,” Kurapika mumbles into his arms, probably recalling the way he’d ambushed Leorio at the front door.

“That wasn’t a problem either,” Leorio contradicts, a little too quickly. Kurapika raises his head at this and arches one eyebrow at Leorio who curses internally. “I mean, you were acting cute when you were drunk. I’ve never seen that side of you,” he rambles.  _ Oh my fucking god, that was even worse. Am I trying to get decked or something? _ Leorio wonders incredulously at his lack of a filter.

Kurapika straightens up in his spot and covers his face with both his hands once again. “Shut the fuck up,” he bites but the splotchy blush creeping up his neck contradicts his tone. Leorio grins smugly at his embarrassment and Kurapika glares at him, though the usually menacing effect is a bit downplayed.

“Anyways, I’m glad you decided to come to me,” Leorio leans forward in his chair with his hands on his knees. “It made me happy to see that ya trusted me, even though you were a bit drunk.” Leorio rubs the back of his neck suddenly to confide in Kurapika. “Actually, who am I kidding, it made me happy to see you. I wish I could take some of your stress away, though.”

Kurapika looks at him, face reddening an even more alarming shade with his mouth open as though he’s trying to say something but can’t quite seem to get the sentence out. This time it’s Leorio who looks at him with a confused expression on his face, and goes to ask “Kurapika?”

“Will you go on a date with me, Leorio?” Kurapika blurts in one breath, hands shaking slightly. His face is scrunched up as though he’s a mixture of relieved and annoyed that such a thing ever came out of his mouth, and directed to the gangly med student no less.

Leorio balks at Kurapika and has to process what the blonde just said for a couple of seconds before asking an incredulous “Huh?”

Kurapika’s eyebrow twitches and he looks away, arms crossed and getting defensive. “I absolutely won’t say it again.”

“Huh?” Leorio’s eyes widen with realisation. “Wait, did you just ask me out? HOLY FU-”

That was how, for the second time during Leorio’s college years (the first time being the rolling ladder incident), he got kicked out of the library for causing a disruption.




Life isn’t fair sometimes. That’s something that can’t be helped. Leorio has always thought that life picks and chooses it’s victims at random but as it turns out, he’s got a big fat target on his back. A brightly painted target, and life is loading it’s gun.

_ I feel like my life is one cruel joke, _ Leorio grumbles in his head and grinds his teeth together as he struggles to stay upright, knees buckling underneath him. _ It’s all fun and games until I get screwed in the ass. _

His ankles feel bruised and twisted from trying to support his height on the thin blades of the rental skates. Leorio contemplates ripping the confining skates off of his (blistering) feet and just storming out of the indoor skate rink. He also wonders why he’s even here in the first place, in that order.

Then, in a magnificent hazy glow that warms Leorio’s grouchy old man heart, a halo-headed blonde sidles up to him, all kinds of grace and poise. Kurapika stands before Leorio, hands on his hips, looking down at the older man as he crouches over the rink’s boards while trying to keep his balance.

“If you grab onto the wall any harder, I think you might rip it off,” Kurapika chides, skating small half circles around Leorio as he cranes his neck up to face the dancer. 

“Hilarious,” Leorio groans, pushing himself to stand upright and wobbling in the process, blades sliding all over the place. Kurapika makes no move to help him, however, and merely stays in his spot, observing Leorio with a smug little grin on his face. “I didn’t know you’d show me up at skating, too. If I knew you’d be such a boastful little bastard about the whole ordeal I wouldn’t have brought you here,” Leorio mutters.

Kurapika just rolls his eyes at this, finally reaching forward to grab a hold of Leorio’s arms to steady him. “You should have thought ahead before inviting me on a surprise date. I’m a ballet dancer, skating is practically second nature,” he comments haughtily. 

Kurapika pulls Leorio closer to himself and places his palms inside of the assistant doctor’s own-much bigger-hands, twining their fingers together with a hum. “As long as you follow my lead, I won’t let you fall,” Kurapika coos, a pleasant sound of equal parts mocking and loving.

Leorio stumbles on his skate at this and Kurapika chuckles softly, putting his hand on Leorio’s back for even further stabilisation. At this point, their chests are practically touching, the faintest amount of distance between their shirts filled by the cool arena air. Leorio squeezes Kurapika’s hand in his own, as though handling a delicate baby bird, and inhales sharply.

“Shit, Kurapika, your hands are like ice,” Leorio whistles in worried observance. Kurapika looks up at the taller man’s face, tilting his head up and arching a brow at Leorio. “Thank you for noticing,” Kurapika deadpans as Leorio drags his eyes up from where he was looking at Kurapika’s lips, which look rosy despite the cold around them. “I guess that’s partly your fault for not specifying that we were going to an _ ice skating rink  _ when I asked what I should wear.”

Leorio sputters. “I believe I was  _ very _ clear when I told you to dress appropriately.”

“How the hell does one dress appropriately for “a really good time”? Leorio,” Kurapika looks him over exasperatedly, shaking his head. “Sometimes I wonder what goes on in that brain of yours.”

Leorio reflects on what Kurapika has just said for a moment before reaching out to flick a piece of hair out of the blonde’s face. Kurapika looks embarrassed and averts his gaze this time, turning his head to the side. His action reveals the soft skin of his neck as his loose t-shirt’s neckline falls lower down his shoulder. 

Suddenly Leorio snaps his fingers and gently removes Kurapika’s arm which is still wrapped around his back loosely. Kurapika turns back to him, puzzled with his head tilted to one side but Leorio waves his hand in an “I’m okay” motion and gives a bit of space between the two of them. 

Under Kurapika’s quizzical stare, Leorio starts to peel off the warm jacket he’s wearing, in disbelief that he didn’t think of this sooner. Realization dawns on Kurapika as Leorio finishes tugging off his coat, repeating the exact motion he had done with his sweater the other week.

This time, however, instead of offering the jacket to Kurapika with an abashed grin, Leorio places himself even closer in front of Kurapika and drapes his plaid jacket over the blonde’s shoulders, his hair fanning out behind him. 

Enjoying the close proximity, Leorio can see up close as Kurapika tucks his lower lip under his top lip, trying not to smile but the corners of his mouth eventually giving way to a small, endearing quirk. Kurapika’s hands come up to try to fit his arms through the sleeves but Leorio catches one, his right hand, and brings it to his lips, not quite done with wooing the blonde just yet.

Kurapika’s hand is adorned with a couple of silvery bands on each finger, except for the ring finger. _ Damn, I’m feeling bold today _ , Leorio thinks to himself as the cold metal of the rings touch his lips gently. However, the slight corniness of the action is worth it when Leorio looks up to see Kurapika’s cheeks glowing a healthy pale rose as the color quickly returns to his skin.

“Oh my god, Leorio,” Kurapika whispers before tucking his chin into his (Leorio’s) coat. “You’re so embarrassing.” Leorio just grins and tucks his exposed arms into his pant’s pockets. “I know,” he replies and pretends he can’t see Kurapika’s heated gaze as his eyes sweep down Leorio’s toned forearms.

The blonde huffs quickly, the blush in his cheeks leaving as soon as it comes to him, but at least he isn’t shivering anymore as Leorio’s jacket nearly swaddles him to death. The contrast between Kurapika’s ripped leggings and the oversized jacket just makes Leorio want to  _ swoon  _ like a lovesick middle grader but he just can’t help it. He’s endlessly attracted to the short blonde and the acceptance of this fact makes Leorio smile just a little bit wider.

Kurapika eyes him like he’s nuts and starts to skate backwards, coaxing Leorio along gently as they stumble a bit down the ice. As they finish their first lap, Leorio feeling proud as hell for not falling on his ass for a whole five minutes, Kurapika turns his head quickly, earring jingling widely as his hair whips around his face from the air current.

“Leorio?” Kurapika says, voice at almost a whisper, scaring Leorio for a second before coming to a full stop, albeit a little ungraceful. 

“Yeah, ‘pika?” Leorio says tentatively, shortening the dancer’s name without realizing it. 

A small weight collides with his stomach, knocking Leorio off balance before he’s able to adjust to the impact. The two of them crash to the ice, an ungraceful tangle of limbs, Kurapika’s arm underneath his back to cushion him from the fall.

“Thank you for everything, truly,” Kurapika mumbles into his neck, eyes closed as Leorio briefly reisters the fact that Kurapika’s form straddles his torso from their close positioning.  _ Not that I’m complaining, _ Leorio’s brain quips as he goes to thread his hands through Kurapika’s hair with a soft smile.

“Anytime, sunshine,” Leorio muses while patting Kurapika’s head soothingly. He can feel Kurapika laugh softly against his chest and can feel his heart tighten and constrict with emotion.

Kurapika sits up on his heels the best he can with skates on and Leorio props himself up with his elbows, the two of them still lazily idling on the ice. “Hey,” Leorio calls out suddenly, breaking the tension that they’d built up between the two of them from just staring warmly into each other’s eyes.

“Yeah?” Kurapika shifts around, reaching out to accommodate Leorio’s grabbing hand. Leorio reclasps their palms together and intertwines their fingers with a grin.

“I guess I really  _ fell  _ for you, huh?”

“Oh _ fuck _ no, Leorio, I’m ending this right now if you don’t stop with those horrible puns.”




Leorio toys with the entrance ticket stub, flipping it between his fingers distractedly. He had recently gone with Kurapika to a diner for a midnight study date (admittedly not the most romantic, but they had to make due with the little time Kurapika got to himself) when Kurapika had invited him to his upcoming dance competition.

Or rather, Leorio had invited himself. Kurapika’d been slurping a shake, engrossed in his textbook when he’d let it slip that the reason why he was studying so frequently these days was because he had a huge competition coming up.

Leorio, ever the supportive boyfriend-not-boyfriend (because they’d yet to have the talk about their relationship) brought it upon himself and begged Kurapika to let him tag along. Kurapika had been too tired to refuse and eventually cracked, though that didn’t mean he was too tired for snippy comments.

“Fine, come, I don’t care,” Kurapika rolled his eyes and chewed on the end of his straw. “Though I better not see you with your camcorder whipped out or I’ll get off stage and beat you with it.”

Leorio brushed the threat off and instead leaned forward joyously. “Great! No promises,” he grinned fiendishly and tried to steal Kurapika’s drink. Kurapika slapped his hand away with a glare and turned his head back down to his books, smiling softly to himself. 

That had been two weeks ago, and the days leading up to the competition had been hell. Leorio pitched in as much as he could but the stress of all the rehearsals along with the daily workload of a college student left Kurapika bending over backward with things to do. Leorio rarely saw him outside of checkups over the weekends, making sure Kurapika wasn’t reverting back to old habits.

But oh, Leorio was so proud of Kurapika. He hadn’t seen him smoke yet, though he could see Kurapika’s restraint working overtime as his fingers twitched for something when he was stressed. Leorio eyed him nervously, monitoring his actions, but Kurapika merely grit his teeth and focused on something else. The assistant doctor always let out a sigh of relief and patted the top of Kurapika’s hand reassuringly, which didn’t get him a response but rather the small twist of Kurapika’s fingers twining around his silently.

Kurapika has also been keeping his body in much better shape than Leorio has ever seen him, actually eating proper meals and sometimes dropping by the clinic for a small breakfast of an orange or the occasional muffin. Leorio enjoys the time they spend together, even if it is only a quick ten minutes before Kurapika is whisked off to class. 

Most of all, Leorio feels honored that Kurapika moves things around his already busy schedule just to see Leorio as often as he can. He feels partly guilty and selfish for letting Kurapika make the time to drop by to see him, but the moments they share mean so much to the both of them that Leorio has learned to live with the culpable feeling that follows.

Leorio’s brought back to his current train of thoughts as he enters through the arching entryway of the auditorium. He makes his way down the isles of the large, dimly lit room, trying to find his seat in the dark before he feels a soft tugging on the sleeve of his shirt. He looks down (and he truly  _ does _ have to look down) to see Melody at his side. His mind scrambles for a moment before recalling her name. “Oh! Hey, Melody,” he says politely.

The smaller woman smiles up at him and stage whispers, trying not to annoy the seated people around them who are anxiously waiting for the curtains to open and reveal the ballet stage. “Hello, Leorio,” she throws back at him. “If it interests you, I think I could smuggle you backstage before the recital starts for a sneak peek,” she winks at him and Leorio wonders if she’s picked up on him and Kurapika’s “friendship”.

His face reddens and he waves his hands in front of his face. “No, no, I wouldn’t want to cause a disturbance or anything..” he protests weakly but Melody is already dragging him with her, insisting that it’s really no problem and that Kurapika would love to see him. “I’m not a mind reader, but I can tell that just having you around makes him calm down,” she remarks, turning around to face Leorio who fidgets abashedly. “That, or he rants about how annoying and selfless and perfect you are, but you didn’t hear it from me.” Melody puts a finger to her lips as Leorio sputters. He could definitely become good friends with Melody.

They push past the hanging curtain that separates the auditorium from backstage and Leorio is caught off guard. It’s a complete mess behind the curtain, with people running back and forward, trying on costumes and applying makeup. Numerous middle aged women and men are yelling frantically into their phones and the dancers waiting in the wings look either overly cocky or scared shitless.

Leorio whistles and scans the crowd before Melody points Kurapika out to him. He nods his head at her in thanks and she just gives him a thumbs up in acknowledgment, and with a gentle push Leorio makes his way over to Kurapika, heart beating faster than normal. Though every time he gets near the shorter man his heart goes sporadic, so he supposes having a heartbeat going a mile a minute is the norm whenever he’s within Kurapika’s proximity.

The dancer is seated in front of a mirror where a woman is applying the finishing touch ups to his face. Leorio’s stomach does a flip as he stands next to the chair. Almost as if he heard his footsteps among the loud noises in the background, Kurapika opens his eyes slowly and looks up at Leorio from his seated position. 

“Hey,” Leorio says nonchalantly, repressing a quick two fingered salute and opting to shove his hands into his pockets. Kurapika’s face breaks out into a grin which makes his makeup artist worry over the creases in his eye makeup as he smiles. Kurapika doesn’t pay it too much attention, seeing as the makeup will have to face worse than smiling when he’s on stage, and he turns back to face Leorio. 

“Hi,” Kurapika echoes, remnants of a smile still in his voice as his expression morphs into his casual, guarded one. His only tells, which Leorio picks up on, is how he worries his bottom lip with his teeth and glances around the room a bit. Kurapika goes to fidget with a strand of his hair but the majority of it is pulled back into a loose ponytail, his bangs framing his face being too short to worry over.

Leorio’s taken aback by how amazing Kurapika looks as he tries to register every aspect of his attire. Kurapika’s collarbones are exposed due to his white wrap-around shirt with sleeves that extend down to his wrists. The fit hugs his lithe figure and the flowing ends of the shirt flare out around the small of his back. Kurapika has on a pair of black leggings that cling to his legs and Leorio can see how defined his legs are, leading down to a pair of simple yet very worn in ballet shoes. 

The real show stopper, however, is the makeup that Kurapika has on. His naturally winged eyes have been amplified with an inky liner that brings out the beautifully curved shape of his lash line. His already long eyelashes got their color and length amplified with a few coats of mascara, lashes that seem to brush the top of Kurapika’s smooth, lightly freckled cheeks when he looks down. 

Simply put, Kurapika looks _ stunning  _ and Leorio is in awe of every part of him. The woman attending to him finally waves Kurapika off and lets him get off the chair so that she can touch up someone else. Leorio and Kurapika stand in front of each other, just admiring the other before Leorio clears his throat out nervously.

“You look really great, yknow,” he admits to Kurapika who just puts a hand on his hip and poses sassily. “Yes, I’m well aware.” Leorio knows Kurapika is joking but he  _ shouldn’t _ be. Anyone with a working pair of eyes can tell that Kurapika’s normally striking features are amplified tenfold tonight. “Boastful much?” Leorio snarks in an amused tone and Kurapika laughs softly. “Always am.”

Leorio gives him this time to relax a bit, trying to recreate their usual banter to ease the tension he can see Kurapika building up mentally. All of Kurapika’s efforts have been leading up to this moment, and although there are multiple competitions a year, having something go wrong at one can majorly screw up your dancing mojo. 

They both suddenly hush as a loud smattering of applause erupts from behind the dividing curtains. Leorio and Kurapika are standing in front of the wings, being swarmed by a bunch of dancers who are starting to line up. The curtains open slowly, revealing a backdrop so intricately hand painted that Leorio shudders to think of the hours put into it.

He sees Kurapika trembling slightly beside him and pulls the blonde over to a less busy area in the wings. “Come on, Kurapika, you’ll do great. There’s nothing to worry about, you’ve practiced for this a hundred times.” He goes to pat Kurapika on the back but Kurapika shifts around suddenly, running his hands over the expanse of Leorio’s back. Leorio returns the favor and wraps his arms around Kurapika as well, letting the dancer rest his head in the crook of his shoulder. 

They stand in this position for a bit, listening to classical music fill up the auditorium as they sway in place slightly. Finally, as though forcing himself, Kurapika inhales sharply and pushes himself back with a deep breath. Leorio can hear the music change and can tell that Kurapika’s solo is coming up. He offers a small smile to Kurapika who nods and shakes his arms out before moving to the front of the crowd, looking back to give Leorio a small wave.

Leorio feels a sense of calm and renewed admiration for the man as he walks onto stage solemnly, the harsh stage lights bringing out the glow of his hair and making his eye makeup shine. Kurapika briefly flits his gaze over to Leorio standing in the sidelines before his mouth quirks up into a small smile, arms raising over his head to take the same stance he had on the day Leorio dropped by the studio secretly.

Kurapika visibly relaxes, the tension ebbing out of his body as he lets the familiar music roll over him in melodic waves. Leorio doesn’t know much about ballet, but the moves that Kurapika runs through cohesively appear controlled, precise and graceful, ever the exemplary ballet dancer. Leorio’s sure that he looks on with hearts in his eyes as Kurapika nears the end of his routine, one knee on the floor in a balanced position as relieved pants of breath escape their way from his tired lungs.

As soon as it came, the curtains close quickly to the roaring of cheers and applause. Kurapika’s routine was clearly well received, and judging by the ecstatic look on Kurapika’s face as he makes his way back to the wings, the dancer hadn’t made any significant errors during his solo. Kurapika is beaming so brightly that Leorio knows he’s absolutely stricken with love. 

Leorio and Kurapika stumble over to each other, both feeling overwhelmed with emotions and grinning widely. Leorio looks the blonde over once more and he just looks so ethereal and  _ happy _ that Leorio doesn’t have a chance to think. Lacking the finesse that they have in the movies but with all of the effort, he dips his head to meet Kurapika’s lips which still shine with the glossy sheen of the lip balm he’d put on earlier.

Kurapika stills momentarily, shocked before he melts into the kiss and tilts his head to press harder against Leorio’s lips. They crash into a wall when Kurapika pulls on Leorio’s tie to deepen the embrace but neither seem to notice. Leorio barely remembers putting his hands up to cup Kurapika’s face as they kiss but there they are as he pulls away, his long fingers having found their place on the soft skin of Kurapika’s glittering cheeks.

They stare into each other’s eyes endearingly for a beat as they catch their breath, Kurapika in particular. Leorio ducks his head and kisses Kurapika’s forehead lovingly, brushing his bangs out of the way as they tickle his nose. “You did so well,” he mumbles into the top of Kurapika’s head. The blonde flushes visibly and tries to cover up his smile with a frown. “You can’t just say things like that,” he practically whines. 

“Why not?” Leorio protests smugly as he picks up Kurapika’s slender hand in his own and rubs his thumb along Kurapika’s various rings. Fluttering his eyelashes innocently, Kurapika looks up at Leorio with earnestly hooded eyes before his lips form into a delighted smirk. “Much as I’d love to keep making out with you, I still have a group routine to perform.” Leorio huffs and retracts his hand from the crook of Kurapika’s back, though he still keeps hold of Kurapika’s hand. The dancer makes no move to take his hand out of Leorio’s grasp either.

“Well, I guess we’ll have all the time we need once your recital’s over,” Leorio suggests with a grin. Kurapika hums in delighted anticipation and rubs small circles on the back of Leorio’s hand. The taller man smiles earnestly at Kurapika as they turn their heads to look at each other. “Can I say something quick?,” Leorio thinks out loud suddenly, breaking the tension. 

Kurapika tilts his head cutely and Leorio sucks in a breath at the thought of having such a magnificent person all to himself. “Go for it,” Kurapika says, intrigued. Leorio swallows his pride and tugs at Kurapika’s other hand, standing in front of the blonde now and clasping both of his small hands in his own larger ones.

“Will you make me the happiest person on earth,” Kurapika raises his eyebrow at the dialogue that Leorio recites, sounding an awful lot like someone who’s proposing. “Hush, I’m not proposing,” Leorio cuts in, noticing Kurapika’s amused expression. Kurapika grins at the accurate reading of his thoughts and Leorio barrels on, anxious to get the thoughts that have been floating around his mind for the past month out of his system. 

“Will you make me an insanely lucky man and be my boyfriend?” Leorio mentally pats himself on the back for not stumbling over his words and for staying calm over the intense gaze that Kurapika’s pinned him under. However, when Kurapika starts laughing, legitimate  _ laughter, _ Leorio is worried for the slightest moment that he majorly fucked up somehow.

His fears are dealt with when Kurapika wipes his eyes from laughing, smudging the liner just a little bit. “Of course, you dumbass. I kind of thought we were already dating.” To make the insult sting less, Kurapika quickly leans forward to place a chaste kiss on Leorio’s lips. The taller man smiles widely into the kiss and Kurapika can feel his stomach flutter with butterflies.

“You better be ready, because I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of kissing you,” Leorio says softly in a deep tone that makes the fluttery feeling in Kurapika’s stomach coil and intensify. “I’m glad.” Kurapika mumbles into the corner of Leorio’s mouth as they both stand with their hands clasped together in the wings.

Down the hall, Pietro slips Melody a ten dollar bill sullenly as she smiles boastfully and looks on at the couple. “I told you I never lose a bet.” 

**Author's Note:**

> If you made it to the end, thank you so much for reading! I'd love to hear your feedback on my first (finished) Leopika fic. Also, huge thank you to my friend (you know who you are) for giving me the inspiration for their little date and always letting me rant about Leopika even if you don't care.
> 
> Take care everyone! ^^


End file.
